Thanks to OpenOffice.org, there is an alternative to Microsoft Word. If you've ever been frustrated by Word's quirks and limitations--including its price tag--and longed for a practical alternative, then it's time to break free. OpenOffice.org is the free, open source office suite and its word processor, Writer, has proven extremely popular with both Windows and Linux users. How good can it be if it's free? you might ask. And how much trouble will it be to install and learn? A quick tour of the program will show you: the features you use regularly--from formatting and spell check to using templates and creating indexes --are all there. And Writer's intuitive, surprisingly familiar interface lets you navigate with ease. To quickly master the ins and outs of Writer, you'll want a copy of OpenOffice.org Writer: The Free Alternative to Microsoft Word. This handy reference is packed with essential information to help you learn the basics of Writer and become adept with its advanced features. Written for intermediate and advanced users of word processing programs, OpenOffice.org Writer: The Free Alternative to Microsoft Word provides guidance for common and advanced word processing tasks. With this book, you'll learn how to:

• Set up OOoWriter to work your way

• Write, edit, and review documents

• Control page layout

• Use templates and styles effectively

• Get the most from using fields

• Work with Tables of contents, indexes, bibliographies

• Manage large or complex documents

• Insert, edit and create graphics

• Make a smooth transition from Microsoft Word

OpenOffice.org Writer: The Free Alternative to Microsoft Word provides guidance for anyone who wants to break out of the Word rut. Its detailed Table of Contents make it a handy reference for even the most experienced word processing users who want to get up to speed quickly with this program, or make sure they're taking full advantage of OOo Writer's features. With the complete office suite included on a CD (which you can install on as many machines as you like), this book makes using Writer an easy decision. OpenOffice.org Writer: The Free Alternative to Microsoft Word is part of the O'Reilly Community Press Series. Unlike classic O'Reilly animal books, O'Reilly's role in the series is limited to providing manufacturing and distribution services rather than editorial development, so that each Community Press title reflects the editorial voice and organization of the community that has created it.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 11 Ratings

As an expert user, I still learned a lot - 2005-12-14
Reviewer Rating:
I have used OpenOffice.org since before it was called OpenOffice.org and I was surprised at how much I learned when I read this book. Most of the sections stand alone, which means that you can read the sections that interest you at the moment.

This book is very readable and accessible to beginners, and it contains content that some advanced users do not know. If you want to learn how to use styles, for example, this book is amazing. I also learned how to use fields to count my figures and other items. I consider this book a must have.

why do you need this book? - 2006-06-13
Reviewer Rating:
Writer is very easy to learn, especially if you have already been using some other word formatting package. A lot of care went into the design of Writer. So that you don't have to be a technical person in order to quickly learn it.

Which largely obviates the need for this book. Most of the material should be obvious to readers. Plus, the book's CD is superfluous, so long as you have Internet access. If you need a version of Writer to install on your computer, try going to openoffice.org and getting the latest version.

Gets you productive in OOo Writer! - 2007-03-09
Reviewer Rating:
Even though the book emphasizes a version of OOo before the current one, this book will get you proficient on the basics of Writer enough to get you off and running. The majority of the basic tasks you will do with a word processor are covered. I would recommend some previous experience with word processors and GUIs in general, but its not completely necessary. For someone switching over from Word to Open Office Writer, this book would more than meet your needs.

Out of date for ver. 2.4 - 2008-08-18
Reviewer Rating:
After routine basics, Chapter 3 reads like it was written for some other piece of software. Menu item "Catalog" doesn't exist on my version. Left me totally in the dark about this key feature of Writer. I'm still at a loss how to use the advanced features of the program. Very disappointed
Marty Cahill

Useful, but with some shortcomings. - 2008-06-27
Reviewer Rating:
It used to be that if you bought a new PC it came with useful software such as word processing and spreadsheet programs. Lately, the pernicious practice has arisen of bundling "trial versions" of Microsoft Office that expire in a few days if you don't pay to buy them. I would certainly prefer the old way, where you may not get the most powerful word processor around, but at least you get one you can USE without it suddenly going dead if you don't pay for it. I wouldn't even want to TRY it, and risk the possibility that I'd get used to the software. So when I recently bought a new notebook PC and found this stupid trial version, I quickly uninstalled it and went to get hold of word processing and spreadsheet software so I had the functionality on my machine.

To the rescue: [...], a software package that includes nearly all the functionality of Microsoft Office (certainly all the functionality that I needed!) and even a few things that Office doesn't do (like creating PDF files directly without a separate program like Adobe Acrobat!) I downloaded the software, and immediately had a package of Office-like software free.

The only problem was that it is not well documented. Searching through a help file when you're trying to figure out how to do something is NOT fun to me. So I wanted a book, at least on the word processor, Writer. (The spreadsheet program, Calc, is pretty intuitive to me, but then I'm not trying to do things as fancy with it as I want to do in Writer!) And this book seemed the one to go with.

It has proved useful to me; I'm not sorry I bought it. But it has at least two shortcomings: (1) It describes an old version of Writer, version 1.1 while 2.4 is the current version, and (2) it has a woefully inadequate index. The first is not the author's fault; I'm sure she wrote about the version that was current when she wrote the book, but it does mean that sometimes it describes some feature that does not operate as she describes it, and I'm left trying to figure out how to do what I want to. But the second certainly IS her fault; I simply cannot expect to find what I'm looking for in the index and I'm usually forced to go trying to guess what chapter is likely to have what I want, then flipping through the chapter to find out if she discusses the topic I want to look up.

On the plus side, only two days after getting the book, I've succeeded in doing several things I never could figure out how to do before I had the book, so it has clearly proved useful to me.

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